United Way and Pantone Color Institute™ Join Forces to Make Local Issues Unignorable

You can’t solve a problem if you don’t know it exists.

In our busy world, important local social issues can often go unnoticed. United Way wants to change that. That’s whyUnited Way has announced that they have partnered with the Pantone Color Institute™ to create Unignorable – a brand new colour developed specifically to highlight local issues and bring attention to the millions of Canadians impacted by them. This new colour is the foundation of the United Way’s largest integrated public awareness campaign to date.

The national campaign kicked off with a public début at Toronto’s Nuit Blanche. An immersive and interactive art installation was live at Nathan Phillips Square at Nuit blanche. The installation emulated the feelings of isolation, helplessness and uncertainty that millions of Canadians experience. Dressed in Unignorable, a custom colour developed for United Way by the Pantone Color Institute™, the thought-provoking piece brought attention to these issues and acted as a venue for people to learn more about how they can get involved.

“Issues like poverty, youth unemployment and social isolation negatively impact our communities by holding too many people back,” says United Way Greater Toronto President and CEO, Daniele Zanotti. “To tackle these complex issues, we need everyone in communities across Canada to show their support. But first, we need their attention.”

“To highlight these issues, we wanted to create a distinctive color that was virtually unignorable; a color whose ‘can’t miss’ high visibility immediately stops you in your tracks,” says Laurie Pressman, Vice President, PantoneColor Institute™. “Displaying a radiant glow that instantly mesmerizes, this irresistibly captivating coral shade we call ‘Unignorable’ stands out from its surroundings, draws immediate attention and with its high physicality, induces us to act.”

The multi-media, fully integrated campaign, draws on a long tradition of art for social change. It includes images designed by award-winning international illustrator Malika Favre, whose bold pieces have appeared on the cover of The New Yorker and within campaigns for Vogue, BAFTA and Sephora. Favre’s customized designs will captivate onlookers with the Unignorable colour at the forefront, while the illustrations will command attention for issues that hold too many Canadians back: poverty; youth unemployment; social isolation; domestic violence; hunger; mental health; education inequality; and homelessness.

The campaign’s launch film, directed by Montreal-based Benjamin Nicolas, uses colour as a universal language to remind everyone that poverty and inequality surround us. Awareness is just the beginning, the difference-maker is to act. The video and all video assets will live on YouTube and United Way’s social channels.